The North American Idea: A Vision of a Continental FutureIn its first seven years, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) tripled trade and quintupled foreign investment among the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, increasing its share of the world economy. In 2001, however, North America peaked. Since then, trade has slowed among the three, manufacturing has shrunk, and illegal migration and drug-related violence have soared. At the same time, Europe caught up, and China leaped ahead. In The North American Idea, eminent scholar and policymaker Robert A. Pastor explains that NAFTA's mandate was too limited to address the new North American agenda. Instead of offering bold initiatives like a customs union to expand trade, leaders of the three nations thought small. Interest groups stalemated the small ideas while inhibiting the bolder proposals, and the governments accomplished almost nothing. To overcome this resistance and reinvigorate the continent, the leaders need to start with an idea based on a principle of interdependence. Pastor shows how this idea--once woven into the national consciousness of the three countries--could mobilize public support for continental solutions to problems like infrastructure and immigration that have confounded each nation working on its own. Providing essential historical context and challenging readers to view the continent in a new way, The North American Idea combines an expansive vision with a detailed blueprint for a more integrated, dynamic, and equitable North America. |
Contents
and EU 19802000 | |
Chapter 2 | |
The Genetic Code of North America | |
Chapter 3 | |
Who Speaks for North America? | |
Speed Bumps Potholes and Roadblocks on the North | |
Chapter 6 | |
The North American Advantage | |
President Barack Obama Canadas Prime Minister | |
Chapter 4 | |
Additional Tables and Figures on North America | |
Hispanic and Mexican Population in the United | |
Notes | |
Trespassing | |
U S FDI as of Total FDI in Mexico and Canada | |
Chapter 5 | |
Bibliography on North America | |
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The North American Idea: A Vision of a Continental Future Robert A. Pastor No preview available - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
administration agenda approach auto Barack Obama bilateral border Bush cabotage Calderon Canada Canada and Mexico cartels Center challenge competition continent continental cooperation costs Council customs union decade declined drug trafficking economic effective energy environmental estimated Europe European Union exports fear Felipe Calderon firms foreign global Hispanic Homeland Security illegal migration immigration increased infrastructure institutions issues labor Mexican President Mexico and Canada million NAFTA negotiate neighbors North American Community North American Idea North American integration North American market officials PEMEX percent of Americans Pew Hispanic Center Pew Research Center political President Obama problem production proposals region regulatory relationship rules of origin sovereignty standards Stephen Clarkson strategy surveys tariffs three countries three governments transportation trilateral trucks twentyfirst century U.S. Census Bureau U.S. Congress U.S. Department U.S. government U.S. president U.S.Mexican undocumented United University Vicente Fox views vision Washington workers